OFF THE LEASH
GLEESO LETS RIP – NEW COLUMN
WHERE’S the mongrel? Where’s the killer instinct? Where’s the civic leaders who won’t leave a meeting with federal, state or local politicians unless they’ve been given the commitment they want?
It’s time we started winning in the economic, corporate, education, tourism, property and sporting stakes. Accepting mediocrity is not an option anymore. No more Mr Nice Guy. It’s 2021. We’ve done our apprenticeship and now with a bustling, thriving city, the Gold Coast has to take the next step and realise its enormous potential.
That means our political and business leaders have to stop pussy-footing around with their Canberra, George Street and Evandale contemporaries and get fair dinkum. Where’s the new tourism investment? Where’s the new theme parks? Where’s the cable-car from the hinterland to the coast? Where’s the cruise ship terminal?
I can remember the cruise ship terminal issue was front and centre of politics in 2006, approved by the Beattie Government, which then reneged on the deal after the Greens said they’d preference against Merri Rose in Currumbin. I can remember writing about the cable-car in 1998. Same story. Spineless backflips by Labor governments worried about Greens preferences.
We can’t take no for an answer if we want to play with the big boys and compete on the national corporate stage. Suns chairman Tony Cochrane virtually slept in Frank Sinatra’s manager’s office for three days to secure him for the Ultimate Event, the celebration for the opening of Sanctuary Cove. He refused to accept no for an answer. The US$1m on offer for Frank didn’t hurt either. But seriously, we’ve let boofhead greenies hijack this city for way too long. It’s time to run them out of town with a oneway ticket to Uganda.
Does anybody seriously believe the Greens are a political force? They’ve got as much credibility as conman
Peter Foster. Yet we allow our political decision-makers to be held hostage to their warped ideology, which stops your children and grandchildren from getting jobs.
All at a time when the worst pandemic in a century threatens to destroy the city’s biggest industry because heavy-handed politicians – cosying up to power-mad health bureaucrats – introduce lockdowns and border closures when somebody gets a cold.
The best analogy for the Gold Coast’s future is reflected in its two national footy teams – the Titans and the Suns. The management of both the Titans and Suns have spent years and many millions of dollars bringing together the right coaches, playing staff and talent.
They have been given plenty of time to develop as a playing group, with patient fans and sponsors acknowledging that it can take years to instil a winning culture needed to hoist a premiership flag. It is clear that the Titans and Suns have the on-field talent to test any side in the competition and it’s now down to confidence and a take-no-prisoners culture which the top teams have to win games.
That same analogy can be applied to the economic fortunes of the Gold Coast. The city needs to start winning, believe in itself as a
force of nature. And yet we have become complacent, even contemptuous of what we offer as a place to live and holiday.
We’re letting the future slip away. The Commonwealth Games proved how good we can do things. The Olympic Games in 2032 will also give the Gold Coast a wonderful opportunity to continue to develop with much-needed heavy rail between the Gold and Sunshine coasts and a second M1 to be fast-tracked.
As I sit in the Gold Coast Bulletin newsroom writing this, I can’t help but reminisce about my early days as a council reporter at this masthead in the early 1990s. Back then, the only thing in Robina was the fuel station on the corner of Markeri St and Robina Parkway. The place was desolate. Coomera was but a pipedream. Hope Island was swampland and Sanctuary Cove was for the mega rich.
Fast-forward three decades and we now have one of the most liveable cities in the world, the envy of the rest of the country. Yet we’re squandering those development gains, letting down the visionaries of yesteryear who saw the Gold Coast as more than a surfers paradise.
For 30 years, it’s been talk,
talk, talk. Get on with it. Don’t let George St dictate the future of the Gold Coast. We must forge our own destiny. As a community, get out and support the Titans and Suns. That home game advantage may be the difference in a close game against the top sides.
Support new high-tech hubs such as Lumina at Parklands, a terrific way to discover the science, health and tech innovations of today and tomorrow. What’s the next Lumina? Where’s the industry and business diversification that has been talked about at every civic roundtable for the past 30 years?
We need jobs in this city, not vacuous promises and endless talkfests. Legendary US football coach Vince Lombardi once said “if winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?’’. For the Gold Coast, if we’re to reach our full potential over the next 50 years, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
We’ve let boofhead greenies hijack this city for way too long. It’s time to run them out of town with a one-way ticket to Uganda